Medical Marijuana ‘Cease Fire’ Begins

“This is a victory for so many. The first time in decades that the federal government has curtailed its oppressive prohibition of marijuana.”

It’s not all doom and gloom in the Federal Spending Bill. When the 2016 omnibus appropriations bill was signed by President Obama on Friday, a “cease fire” on state medical marijuana research began. The bill contains the Rohbrabacher-Farr Amendment which prevents the Department of Justice interfering with state medical cannabis laws.

SEC. 542.None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (“Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The states not listed presumably have kept federal level bans in place to prevent medical or recreational marijuana laws from passing in their respective states..

Congressional support for medical marijuana has never been stronger. The Rohbrabacher-Farr Amendment passed in the house by a vote of 242-186 and the senate appropriations committee approved it 21-9. Even Diane Feinstein is on board to get serious about medical marijuana. This is a huge step forward for the federal government and medical marijuana patients around the country.